Surfers think twice as more great white sharks swim near Southern California shores

A group of sharks were spotted off Capistrano Beach in Dana Point on Sunday, April 30, 2017, the day after a shark attacked a woman at San Onofre State Beach.The sharks were 8 to 10 long. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand)

Surfers throughout Southern California have a decision to make this weekend — enjoy some good waves (a small swell is coming), and warming weather, or sit on the sand.

But the presence of many sharks at many local beaches is making that usually easy question hard.

Some surfers argue that sharks have always been out there. And they say news of a recent near-fatal shark attack near San Onofre, and video showing about 15 sharks spanning from San Onofre to Doheny state beaches along with some other shark-infested footage popping up online, isn’t enough to keep them from paddling out.

Others are freaking out. They wonder if they’ll be able to relax and enjoy their surf session — and whether it’s worth riding waves when there are apex predators swimming about. At least one surf contest, planned for Poche Beach this Saturday, and a big surf club gathering at San Onofre, have been canceled.

Sure, the ocean is the sharks’ home, and most surfers acknowledge they are visitors in their territory. But until the past few years, shark sightings were rare, limited to a few fin glimpses a year with no major incidents, at least off the local coast.

One came in 2014 in Manhattan Beach. Then, a year ago, another swimmer was attacked off Newport Beach. And, again this month, off San Onofre. None of the encounters were fatal, but they all were real. The idea of a shark sinking its teeth into a local surfer — and killing or injuring that surfer — isn’t a fantasy, a hard reality that’s got surfers and swimmers on edge like never before.

The organizer of the event at Poche Beach, Damian Brawner, who runs Brawner Boards in San Clemente, said he’s waiting to reschedule the event until the 15 great whites near the shore clear out.

“Let the water change, give it some time,” he said. “I don’t see them leaving really quickly.”

He’s been surfing in the area for decades, and said he’s never seen the line-up as clear as it’s been the past few weeks. The scene is eerie.

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“After looking at all the beach breaks, no one is even in the water,” he said. “It’s trippy.”

The presence of sharks is such that Cathy Betts Young, president of the Wahine Kai Women’s Surf Club, will relocate a summer-kick off gathering planned this weekend at San Onofre.

For the past decade, about 50 surfers have gathered for the annual event, with Young showing up at 6 a.m. to set up on the sand. Through the day, surfers paddle out from the cobblestone beach to ride the long, rolling waves.

“Individually, people can make their own choices,” Young said. “But as the president of the club, I feel responsible for members.”

She feels more comfortable surfing in waves watched closely by lifeguards, spots like West Newport and even the Huntington Beach Pier, though that area has had its share of sharks in recent years. Her event will move to Bolsa Chica State Beach, which she says feels safer at the moment.

“I’m going to be better safe than sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to one of my members. And I wouldn’t surf, I’d stand on shore. It would be a drag to go (to San Onofre) and not be able to surf.”

South Bay swimmer Rick Prell said ocean-enthusiasts in his area went through the same nervousness about four years ago when great whites started hanging close to shore in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and El Segundo.

“I went through the same anxiety curve, seeing as many as six to eight in one day, with possibly two or three clusters, during a mile swim.”

He watched up close as sharks flung themselves out of the water and splashed back in on their backs.

“It was spectacular,” he said.

He said he once came within an arm’s reach, face-to-face, with an 8-footer.

“It just slithered really slowly right by me.”

Prell said the key to getting over the fear is accepting that the likelihood of a shark attack is low.

“We all just kind of accepted each other, and it was fine,” he said. “You’re dreading and expecting the worst, which is the unknown… The probability of getting hit is minimal. That keeps you going.”

Still, he’s glad they seemed to have moved on from the South Bay, for now.

“I’ve very delighted that anxiety is gone.”

Jodie Nelson, a surfer at Surfside, has experienced a range of emotions since a group of sharks started showing up in front of her house three years ago.

The first year, she decided to get on a stand-up paddleboard to get a first-hand look.

“I wanted to get that behind me so I could see what that would do to my mental state,” she said. “I could see the way they were acting and they weren’t man eaters.”

But that entire summer, she didn’t get on her shortboard, which would have put her waist-deep into the water, legs dangling.

Instead, she stood up on her paddleboard and told others where the sharks were. Eventually, surfers started to shrug them off, with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality. Nelson, a former pro surfer, shed tears over the anxiety she felt, missing the freedom of being able to simply go out for a surf without worry.

“I don’t have a straight stance; it’s a daily thing I deal with,” she said. “Some days, if waves are good, you just have to mentally make that decision ‘I’m not going to worry about sharks. Sharks live in the ocean, I’m not going to let it freak me out’… Some days, the fear takes over. And if the waves aren’t great, I won’t risk it.

“It’s definitely a daily battle.”

The Surfside sharks were seen so frequently, and for so long, that locals came up with nicknames for them. “Rasta” had a piece of algae hanging from the top of its head, like a dreadlock; “Barnical Bill” had bumps on its fin; Lucy was one of the smaller sharks.

Though they seemed to have moved on from Surfside, for now, Nelson has new guidelines for her surfing.

She stopped surfing early morning and late in the evening. And she used to love surfing solo, but now refuses to paddle out unless there’s another person with her.

“It’s a total change and shift in how we view the ocean.”

Surfers on social media had mixed feelings about the sharks, and how it’s affected their surfing routines.

“Our entire family surfs and we live by the ocean,” wrote Newport Beach surfer Susan Cozad, who frequents Doheny, close to where 15 sharks were spotted near shore. “I do find the influx of shark sightings worrisome. I worry about my kids when they surf. We have noticed fewer people are surfing now.

“I have been staying out of the water because of the sharks, as well as the poor surfing conditions. I might be tempted if the reports calm down and the water gets clear and glassy.”

San Clemente surfer Glenn Brumage surfed San Onofre just days after the recent shark attack. It was, he said, a perfect shoulder-high day, with just 12 people sharing six peaks — a range of breaks usually shared by hundreds. He said it was one of his top ten days at San Onofre.

“Probably never going to happen again,” he wrote. “I went and yes, thought a little about the attack, but weighed the benefits… I guess it’s all about rationalizing the pros and cons of each day.”

Surfer Andy Langeland has paddled out every day since the attack, even surfing in the area where Ericson was attacked the first morning it was re-opened to the public.

“I keep my eyes open and my feet up, but the odds of another attack are just so low it won’t keep me out of the water,” he said.